The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1887-03-02
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MY Boy.

In Norwich, Connecticut, many years
ago, spoke to a large audience in
railroad station. | knew whom / had
in my audience, and ! said: Ladies'
and gentlemen, Mrs. Falkener, who
lives little way out from here, gave
me some interesting incidents with re-
gard to her son. My boy she said,
was drunkard. He signed the pledge.
He said: Mother, l will 90 away from
home. | will not stay in the midst of
temptation, but / will keep this pledge,
He went away, but she continued to
hear good news from him. By-and-by,
after he had been gone little over two
years, a letter reached home to say,
Mother, / am coming home to spend
Thanksgiving with YOU My boy is
coming home to spend Thanksgiving
Well, his poor old mother will get
dinner for him worthy of New En-
gland; and if there is but one guest, it
shall be famous dinner And he
came by stage into the town, which
stopped at the door of Solomon Par
sons tavern. The stage passed on 1t
was just after dark. Some young men
were in the bar. Halo, Fredl How
are you? What will you have to
drink?' Nothing Not on Thanks
giving? Come, take a little No I'd
rather not. I've come home to see my
mother. She hardly expects me to-
night. thought I'd wait till dark, and
go in and surprise the old lady, By
and-by Solomon Parsons, who was lean
ing his elbow on the counter, looked at
him and said: Fred Falkener, if /
were six feet tall and broad in proper
ton, as you are, and yet afraid to drink
a paltry glass of ale, I'd go to the
woods and hang myself But Pm
not afraid ooh, yes, you are-ha!
bal ha! | say, boys, there's big fell
low afraid of glass of liquorl l sup
pose he's afraid of his mother This
young man, with all the strength of mind
to keep the pledge, was weak when
they jeered and joked him. They
handed him the liquor and dared him
to drink it. Well he said, Pm
going to mother, and l may as well
show you I'm not afraid to drink it,
He drank it. Then came another glass,
and they piled him with more. Twelve
O'Clock that night he went into the
barn, and was there found in the morn
ing-dead! They brought him to his
mother, stretched upon plank, with a
buffalo-robe thrown over the body.
She said to me: Parsons came, and l
said to him, You tempted my boy"
{" Well, l didn't know it was your
SON." You did! You called him by
name. You knew it was Frederick
Falkener, the only son of his poor,
crippled mother. You knew it., and
you have killed him. :" Mrs. Falkener,
/ am not used to having such language
applied to me-" God forgive me if 1
have sinned said the poor woman ;
but put my hand on the face of my
dead boy, and l lifted up my finger
and cursed him! He went out with a
face as white as chalk Then said
Ladies and gentlemen, Solomon Par
sons, the man who tempted Frederick
Falkener to his ruin; Solomon Parsons,
who staggered through life under the
weight of that poor woman's curse;
Solomon Parsons is in this hall, and he
mon Parsons keeps grog-shop on the
bridge of your city, licensed by the
state of Connecticut. Rout him out! y
And before twenty-four hours had
elapsed, bag and baggage, bottles and
demijohns of liquor, furniture, license
and all, were carted out of the city.
They violated no law. They laid nc
hands upon him, but they made him
go out himself. They helped him not
to pack up single article of his furni-
ture, but they went to him in body
and declared that such man should
not be tolerated in the city, and he was
obliged to go.-JOhn d. Cough.